Background
Lefkowitz, Mary Rosenthal was born on April 30, 1935 in New York City. Daughter of Harold L. and Mena (Weil) Rosenthal.
(Not Out of Africa has sparked widespread debate over the ...)
Not Out of Africa has sparked widespread debate over the teaching of revisionist history in schools and colleges. Mary Lefkowitz explains why politically motivated histories of the ancient world are being written and shows how Afrocentrist claims blatantly contradict the historical evidence.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008N4XCZ0/?tag=2022091-20
( In the first edition of Women in Greek Myth, Mary R. Le...)
In the first edition of Women in Greek Myth, Mary R. Lefkowitz convincingly challenged narrow, ideological interpretations of the roles of female characters in Greek mythology. Where some scholars saw the Amazons as the last remnant of a forgotten matriarchy, Clytemnestra as a frustrated individualist, and Antigone as an oppressed revolutionary, Lefkowitz argued that such views were justified neither by the myths themselves nor by the relevant documentary evidence. Concentrating on those aspects of women’s experience most often misunderstood―life apart from men, marriage, influence in politics, self-sacrifice and martyrdom, and misogyny―she presented a far less negative account of the role of Greek women, both ordinary and extraordinary, as manifested in the central works of Greek literature. This updated and expanded edition includes six new chapters on such topics as heroic women in Greek epic, seduction and rape in Greek myth, and the parts played by women in ancient rites and festivals. Revisiting the original chapters as well to incorporate two decades of more recent scholarship, Lefkowitz again shows that what Greek men both feared and valued in women was not their sexuality but their intelligence.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0801886503/?tag=2022091-20
('The myths, as the ancient authors related them, do not o...)
'The myths, as the ancient authors related them, do not offer hope so much as a means of understanding.' Greek and Roman narratives are full of discussion and descriptions of the actions of the gods and their influence over human lives and, in this study, Mary Lefkowitz explores the role of gods and divine action in some of these texts. Essentially, she aims to show what writers were trying to tell their audience about the gods, writing principally for people who did not question their existence or motives, in works such as the Iliad , Odyssey , Aeneid , Hellenistic poetry and Greek drama.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0300101457/?tag=2022091-20
(This collection of essays, although written over a period...)
This collection of essays, although written over a period of almost 30 years, deals with one problem: who is the I in the odes of the most celebrated ancient Greek poet, Pindar?. since antiquity, the complex and allusive language of the first-person statements has provoked many different answers, Professor Lefkowitz describes the function and nature of Pindar's I statements and proposes a controversial solution that would cause some histories of Greek literature to be rewritten. Rather than accept the view that the identity of the speaker could be subject to instant and unannounced change, she proposes that the voice of the victory odes is the poet himself, in his most professional persona. Professor Lefkowitz also refutes the traditional belief that the odes were sung by a chorus. She shows that in most, if not all cases, they were sung as solos and that Pindar was continuing the tradition established by the Homeric bards.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0198146868/?tag=2022091-20
( Renowned scholar Mary R. Lefkowitz has extensively revi...)
Renowned scholar Mary R. Lefkowitz has extensively revised and rewritten her 1981 classic to introduce a new generation of students to the lives of the Greek poets. Thoroughly updated with references to the most recent scholarship, this second edition includes new material and fresh analysis of the ancient biographies of Greece's most famous poets. With little or no independent historical information to draw on, ancient writers searched for biographical data in the poets’ own works and in comic poetry about them. Lefkowitz describes how biographical mythology was created, and she offers a sympathetic account of how individual biographers reconstructed the poets’ lives. She argues that the life stories of Greek poets, even though primarily fictional, still merit close consideration, as they provide modern readers with insight into ancient notions about the creative process and the purpose of poetic composition. Accessible to students and readers unfamiliar with ancient Greece as well as to scholars, this comprehensive and compelling study includes translations of the original biographies of seven of ancient Greece’s most storied poets.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1421404648/?tag=2022091-20
Lefkowitz, Mary Rosenthal was born on April 30, 1935 in New York City. Daughter of Harold L. and Mena (Weil) Rosenthal.
Bachelor, Wellesley College, Massachusetts, 1957. AM, Radcliffe College, 1959. Doctor of Philosophy, Radcliffe College, 1961.
Doctor of Humane Letters (honorary), Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut, 1996. Doctor of Humane Letters (honorary), Grinnell College, Iowa, 2000. Doctor of Philosophy (honorary), University Patras, Greece, 1999.
Instructor Greek, Wellesley (Massachusetts) College, 1960-1963; assistant professor Greek and Latin, Wellesley (Massachusetts) College, 1964-1969; associate professor Greek and Latin, Wellesley (Massachusetts) College, 1969-1975; professor Greek and Latin, Wellesley (Massachusetts) College, 1975-1979; Andrew W. Mellon professor in the humanities, Wellesley (Massachusetts) College, since 1979. Visiting professor University of California, Berkeley, 1978. Visiting fellow St. Hilda's College, 1979-1980, Corpus Christi College, 1991.
(This collection of essays, although written over a period...)
(Not Out of Africa has sparked widespread debate over the ...)
('The myths, as the ancient authors related them, do not o...)
( In the first edition of Women in Greek Myth, Mary R. Le...)
(Book by Lefkowitz, Professor Mary R.)
( Renowned scholar Mary R. Lefkowitz has extensively revi...)
( Mary R. Lefkowitz has extensively revised and rewritten...)
(2nd)
Member American Philological Association (board directors 1974-1977), Class Association New England (president 1972-1973).
Married Alan L. Lefkowitz, July 1, 1956 (divorced). Children: Rachel, Hannah. Married Hugh Lloyd-Jones, March 26, 1982.